Thinking of this, Lagaray, with brother Haral's battle-axe in hand, looked towards the temple hall with a glitter in her eyes, seemingly harboring a glimmer of hope and anticipation!
"Be careful, I can feel the evil aura growing stronger ahead, it's right in the temple hall," the Bishop Rudolph warned solemnly as he stared at the hall in front of them.
Three temple Knights with sword and shield led the way, while Rudolph, Rein, and Lagaray followed closely behind, the six of them entering the dimly lit hall gradually.
As they stepped into the hall, everyone's pupils shrank!
It was mainly because the scene in front of them was too bloody, too shocking!
They saw a dense Flesh Forest before them, including humans, ogres, gnolls, and other sapient creatures, as well as some other beasts, which were exceptionally large and seemed to have been fierce predators in life.
But now, these once powerful beings were skewered like kebabs on the thick, sharp branches.
At first glance, these corpses seemed to be merely that, corpses. But as everyone approached, goosebumps instantly formed.
It turned out that the heads or upper bodies of these sapient beings and beasts were still mostly intact, but the flesh of their lower halves had bizarrely merged with the tree trunks, forming a spiral structure resembling the 'Tianjin twisted doughnut' Rein had seen in his previous life.
Only, the 'flesh twisted doughnut' in front of them was half grey bark and half vivid red flesh, intertwined in a chaotic spiral, fused together into one.
This scene, in the dim hall, under the patchy light and shadow, evoked an indescribable feeling of disgust, horror, and eeriness.
"This is the remains of my brother!" Lagaray's eyes reddened as she pointed to a thick trunk with human remains twisted around it.
"It looks is a rudimentary altar, apparently set for some kind of sacrificial ritual," a temple Knight said grimly.
"It's probably... not that simple," Rein said as he observed the scene, feeling there was more than met the eye than just a sacrificial procedure.
Moreover, he now had a clear understanding of the 'bloody sacrificial ritual' Rudolph had mentioned about the Mother Tree sect.
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Just as Lagaray and several temple Knights were about to step forward for a closer look—
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind the group, reminiscent of the sound of a multitude of snakes slithering across the ground.
Simultaneously, as the sound emerged, the already dim temple hall became even darker.
Everyone immediately turned to look and saw that the half-collapsed doorway they had entered through was now covered with thick, writhing vines like living snakes.
A temple Knight quickly drew his longsword, intending to chop through the vines, when suddenly, everyone turned again to face the center of the temple hall's Flesh Forest.
All felt a heart-palpitating sensation, as a vast and indistinct aura seemed to awaken rapidly!
The next second, the dense Flesh Forest started to tremble, the flesh coiled around the branches shivering. Rein's core "danger perception LV3" Skill began to frantically warn him!
Rein narrowed his eyes and immediately pulled Lagaray, who was in front of him, back!
Before he could say anything, there was a loud "boom" as the ground burst open, and a gargantuan monster leapt out from the earth!
Lagaray's eyes widened dramatically, her mouth partly open as she gasped in shock.
What kind of monster was this!
The group then realized that the Flesh Forest was not a forest at all, but the roots of this massive monster.
Yes, it was the roots!
What appeared to be a forest was actually an upside-down growth, with the body of the Flesh Forest hidden underground while the roots sprawled above, mingling in strange twists with the various corpses dragged by the Evil Spirit Knights.
The enormous monster seemed to be using the energy-rich Transcendent (ferocious) corpses as nourishment.
But Rein had a feeling that the corpses were not simply nourishment; they seemed to be integrated into the creature's body.
The overly dark environment was definitely not conducive for the group's battle, as most people did not possess Rein's "Dark Vision" ability.
Therefore, as Bishop Rudolph waved his right hand, a Divine Art similar to a flare lit up in front of the monster.
In an instant, everyone could clearly see the monster's true form.
The creature's body was a massive stump about two to three meters in diameter and seven to eight meters long, with roots of varying thickness growing densely around it, mingling with flesh.
These roots, different in shape and size, meandered for over ten meters, making it a creature nearly twenty meters in length.
This was the first time Rein had encountered a monster of such immense size!
Moreover, he noticed that even the roots without entwined corpses were covered in skin resembling red biological muscle and fascia, aside from the grey bark.
It seemed as though these roots had just finished digesting the corpses?
The red flesh fascia appeared to still be active, constantly pulsating and expanding as if they were a heart, and oozing red fluid.